On the recommendation of Ryan at The RSL Blog, I had the pleasure of catching VD this past Thursday….yeah I know. You should see the buttons.

Anyway, these guys have an old-school new-wave sensibility. You hear a bit of Cake and early 80’s Elvis Costello flavoring their own brand of solid indie rock music. This is a style that’s easy to do bad. Instead, these guys pull it off with a sophistication that you don’t see in bands that have been doing it for decades.

Their tunes have a lot of transitions, relatively speaking, but they’re unforced. You don’t hear them try to shoe-horn a bridge in just to keep things interesting. Their songs are simply well composed, with good energy and a great effort from all parts. No one piece overshadows the others.

I’d highly recommend you pick up the CD, “Let’s Become Machines” it’s a great addition to your collection. Also, catch them live. They’re solid performers and Rob Morris does this thing with his Wii-mi bar….or perhaps its a WiiWii Pedal. Cool to see, great to hear.

Vivian Darkbloom

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MP3 - Jamie

Originally, my inspiration for this post is that I have been so psyched at the number and variety of “real” instruments people are touring with. I dig electronic music just fine, but I’ve been totally into seeing something more “organic”.

Now, I thought about whether this was simply a case of nostalgia, but I don’t think that’s possible. I’ve seen plenty of shows. For the most part, anyone who wasn’t a band with big money or playing jazz, would opt for a keyboard, samples or a loop, rather then bring real horns or strings on tour.

Now, I’m perfectly willing to accept that Rock n’ Roll may not be the most precise musical adjective for all the cellists I’ll be talking about. However, since I’ve seen the cello make a showing four times in the last three months, you’ll excuse the generalization.

The first cello appearance was Alexandra Lawn with Ra Ra Riot when they opened up for the Editors back in September. This was the most rockin’ of the cello performances and an overall great show. They are very exciting live and I highly recommend catching them on December 15 at the Middle East. It is a benefit concert for the John Ryan Pike Memorial Foundation, their drummer who died in a tragic drowning accident.

The second appearance of the cello featured Linnea Weiss putting on a great performance with Mates of State at the MFA on October 25. In addition to the usual drums and keys, grand piano for this show, they brought in Linnea on cello and filled things out with Christian Owens on bass and backing vocals. Kori Gardner said during the show that this was the first time they ever used this arrangement, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell. It was outstanding.

Mates of State at The MFA

(As a side note, the accordion made a brief showing with Via Audio, who opened up that night. A great band who I’ve seen in two sit down shows, The MFA and an abbreviated set at Berklee. I can’t wait to catch them in a club show.)

The third cello appearance was with the Swell Season at the Orpheum on November 28. The Swell Season is the project of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who you’ll remember from the movie “Once“. I had expected a standard arrangement of guitar, bass and drums to go along with the Hansard’s powerful strumming and Irglova on piano. Instead (apologies if I’ve gotten the name wrong) we were treated to Bertrand Galen on cello and Colm Mac Con Iomaire on violin. This was simply one of the best shows I’ve seen. Absolutely amazing and I can’t recommend seeing them highly enough.

So coincidentally, we start with an Alexandra on cello and end with an Alexandra on cello. As I wrote about in my last post, the most recent cello appearance was Alexandra Spalding with Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers. One of my favorite discoveries of the last couple months. There was another accordion appearance in this show as well. I’m very happy they had just cut their eponymous CD that night, because I picked it up and its been in regular rotation. “Next to Me” is gorgeous and probably my favorite on the album.

Annie Lynch & The Beekeepers at The Beehive, Boston

Clearly there’s lots that could be said about many other bands using instruments beyond the cello. Hell, as I mentioned, the accordion has been popping up quite a bit as well. But from Beirut to Polyphonic Spree folks are getting creative and I love it. Spoon even had a horn section in tow with them last week at The Orpheum. I just can’t wait to see it keep coming.

Ra Ra Riot

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mp3 - Dying is Fine

Mates of State

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Web Site

mp3 - Like U Crazy

Swell Season

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mp3 - Leave

Annie Lynch & The Beekeepers

MySpace - Tracks, Tour Dates & More

mp3 - Charlotte’s Web

Sorry for the hiatus. Got a cool new gig that’s got me on brain overload just soaking up tons of info. That, and a bit writers block combined with a healthy dose of reinvention vapor lock has thrown a wrench into the works.

So, back to blogging with a short post. Gotta give big kudos to the hardest working man in blog-biz. Ryan at Ryan’s Smashing Life put on another (his third) great showcase Tuesday night at the lillypad.

It opened up with the stellar vocals and finger picking of Tom Thumb. He was followed by a rare acoustic gig from Eldridge Rodriguez, who braved the wrath of his bride-to-be to play the show just a few days before his wedding.

The final performance of the night was my personal favorite, Annie Lynch & the Beekeepers. They have a style that you could describe as alt-country or alt-folk. They’re a wonderful combination of acoustic guitar, stand-up bass, cello and a rotation of mandolin, accordion, banjo and saw….yes the saw. Annie’s vocals are gorgeous and they have great harmonies.

Check out the Ryan’s post to download samples from each artist.

After reminiscing a couple weeks back about all the great bands that came out of that other Massachusetts Music Mecca, Northampton, I wondered what was going on recently. Coincidentally, I bump into someone just a few days later that turns me on to the Winterpills who are just a great band. (Big thanks to Katie from the comments on my Jose Gonzalez post)

The first thing that stands out when you listen to the Winterpills are the gorgeous harmonies between Philip Price and Flora Reed. There are times when they sing all alone, usually Phillip, but most of the time they sing together. The second thing that strikes you are the great textures they create with the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass and drums. They mix and flow with an artful sense of rhythm that weaves all the instruments together.

I’ve spent a few days listening to both their self-titled debut and their latest “The Light Divides”. On a first listen their eponymous first album gave me a feel of Badly Draw Boy or Elliot Smith. There is a strong flavor of those artists on that album, but on subsequent listens you hear a lot more there. It is a very strong album and a great addition to my collection.

I think the newest album shows a great progression to a sound that more uniquely their own. The feel ranges from truly atmospheric on “Eclipse” to alt-country on songs like “July”. I love the drum work on Eclipse. In fact, Dave Hower does a lot of subtlety ingenious drumming that is fantastic. (Its not always a straight ahead as it feels) Dennis Crommet’s use of distorted guitar and occasional feedback is superb. It adds an edge and tension to the songs that gives a feeling of repressed energy that contrasts the softness of the acoustic guitar and ubiquitous beautiful harmonies. These folks are all top notch musicians.

Winterpills have two shows coming up in town as well as other dates around New England. I’m looking forward to catching them next Monday October 1 at the Middle East Upstairs when they play with The Brunettes and Ferraby Lionheart. You can also catch them at Great Scott on November 2, but I’m sure you’ll agree that’s too long to wait.

Winterpills

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MP3 Lay Your Heartbreak

It was a real struggle to pick which track I would post because there are so many good ones, but this is one of my favorites off “The Light Divides”.